Patent attributes
In a ribbon cassette which is used in a thermal transfer printer of the present invention, a head insertion section, in which a thermal head is inserted to turn its head up and down, is formed between a first ribbon housing section and a second ribbon housing section and further, a relief groove having a predetermined depth, in which a paper feeding mechanism can be positioned, is formed between the head insertion section and the second ribbon housing section. In the relief groove, an ink ribbon to be taken up around a take-up reel is exposed and, in a cassette mounting section, a ribbon guide section is formed to help the ink ribbon to be taken up around the take-up reel in the state where the ink ribbon exposed to the relief groove of the mounted ribbon cassette is bent toward the lower portion of the relief groove.